EA expands Criterion with Codemasters Cheshire team
James Batchelor
Editor-in-Chief
Thursday 12th May 2022
Codemasters
Criterion Games
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts has integrated the development team at Codemasters Cheshire into Criterion Games, doubling the footprint of the Need For Speed studio.
Criterion will now encompass both the original team in Guildford and the developers in Cheshire, GamesIndustry.biz can reveal, with both reporting to vice president and general manager Matt Webster.
The development teams at both locations of Criterion Games are working together on the future of the Need For Speed franchise. Meanwhile, Codemasters Birmingham continues to work on the Formula 1 franchise.
No redundancies have been made.
"This integration builds off the close partnership the two studios have developed over the past few months," an EA spokesperson told us.
"Sharing common values and similar cultures, we strongly believe unifying the huge wealth of experience across both teams will help us to deliver the best racing experiences we can for our players."
Codemasters was acquired by Electronic Arts last year in a deal worth $1.2 billion. The Cheshire team was originally formed by the remnants of MotorStorm developer Evolution Studios, which joined Codemasters in 2016 after Sony decided to shut the studio down.
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